Defending The Constitution Is In The Job Description

Steny Hoyer made a nice speech yesterday on the importance of restoring Constitutional government. I don't think there's as much civic engagement and understanding of our system of government as there should be in the country. But even the least engaged American can understand the point of Federalist #47.

As our fourth President James Madison, wrote in Federalist Paper Number 47 more than 200 years ago: ’The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.’

Now, the Republicans can yell and scream about how the President just has to have massive unchecked power or the terrorists will kill us in our beds, and they can lie their fool heads off about the purpose of that massive unchecked power, but the basic concept that one man, particularly a deeply unpopular man, should have a bunch of massive unchecked power, is a concept that most Americans reject. All the Democrats have to do is whittle the argument down to that. And then you won't have any real resistance to disallowing AT&T and Verizon to get away with breaking the law.

The liberal blogosphere is engaged in an effort to force Harry Reid to honor Chris Dodd's hold on the FISA unless the provision granting retroactive immunity is stripped out. Sign the petition here. For once, the Democrats have to transfer their strength on domestic issues to issues of protecting and defending the Constitution.